teaching them to move away from your leg.......

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Arniebear

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as title really.... HOW???? do you teach a horse to move away from your leg. i have an ex racer who came out of racing 2 yrs ago has been schooled before i got him, so not straight off the track but he just doesnt understand that when i put my leg on i want him to move away from it! he just thinks go faster! he also struggles with right bend!

does anyone have any tips for getting him to understand??

atm im squeezing, when i get no reaction im nudging and still no reaction im kicking and backing up with a tap of a whip on the right shoulder, whilst also opening the left rein to guide him over, my right right rein is higher and im asking for inside bend. atm hes going from running forwards to bouncing on the spot to plainly refusing to move whenever i put my leg on!

ive tried doing small circles and making them bigger but he just doesnt move over, ive also tried going down the 3/4 line and asking him to move over to the fence! he just doesnt seem to get it!

i have dr lessons with a well known very good instructor and these techniques are what she's suggested... thing is he does it perfectly in the lessons! just not when im schooling at home!

any tips???? :)
 
hi mines the same take him to a show or somewhere else and he will school beautifully back home hes a bugger.... its just pure lack or respect and not wanting to work as they find it boring!

mix it up a bit with poles and cones to get the bending... try small child spurs just toeencourage him... other than that just keep using loads of leg :)

also i ussually start with a fast canter around the school a quick jump.. then i have his interest and hes super forward then... i also do a lot of halting transition from each pace as this gets him listening and eger to go forward :)
 
Its difficult to advise people what to do without actually seeing how they ride and how the horse goes.
However, I wouldnt tap the horse on the shoulder. The schooling whip (in my opinion) is purely used to back up your leg. So when the horse doesnt listen to your leg, you need to use the schooling whip just behind your leg so reinforcing your leg aid.
I would also use laods of transistions to get it starting to listen to you before attempting to do any sideways stuff.
 
Will he do it on the ground? I always start with getting them to move away from pressure on the ground and try to teach over from pressure where my leg will go, they dont always get it straight away but it seems to help.
 
dafthoss said:
Will he do it on the ground? I always start with getting them to move away from pressure on the ground and try to teach over from pressure where my leg will go, they dont always get it straight away but it seems to help.
Click to expand...

he does move away from you when you push him over on the ground, it just seems to go out the window when your on board!! he has very good right a left flexion on the ground

Dirtymare said:
Its difficult to advise people what to do without actually seeing how they ride and how the horse goes.
However, I wouldnt tap the horse on the shoulder. The schooling whip (in my opinion) is purely used to back up your leg. So when the horse doesnt listen to your leg, you need to use the schooling whip just behind your leg so reinforcing your leg aid.
I would also use laods of transistions to get it starting to listen to you before attempting to do any sideways stuff.
Click to expand...

i was told by my instructor that he doesnt move his shoulders over hence the tap on the shoulder to get them to move over, i dont use a schooling whip on him just a short one and never on its own, only along with the leg aid, his bum swings over but his front end just doesnt follow

marley and danni said:
hi mines the same take him to a show or somewhere else and he will school beautifully back home hes a bugger.... its just pure lack or respect and not wanting to work as they find it boring!

mix it up a bit with poles and cones to get the bending... try small child spurs just toeencourage him... other than that just keep using loads of leg :)

also i ussually start with a fast canter around the school a quick jump.. then i have his interest and hes super forward then... i also do a lot of halting transition from each pace as this gets him listening and eger to go forward :)
Click to expand...

so glad im not the only one who struggles with this!!

thanks for the replies guys :)
 
i always, when give advice, start with "im not an expert"

but

my instructor has taught us to lift both legs off of his side quite dramatically and stupid looking wise.....hold for a couple of beats then squeeze or kick then snap with the stick if no response

couldnt believe the difference in my rather lazy cob....after doing a lesson of this and both me and my sharer being consistent he mostly now goes off of the raised legs...however i have got into a habit of verbalising "leg off" "leg on" "smack" which is hysterical when hacking but my riding partner saw us "plod along" for a fair while then i decided to "ride like i mean it" and the difference in my boy...fab

worth a go? and yes be dramatic when first lifting both legs right off!

its the similar though of teaching children that they have 2 warnings before being in trouble....they should not need to make it to the 3rd stage of the pattern

good luck x
 
Can you move different parts of his body from the ground, not just moving him over? Will he move his hindquarters away, his front end and the whole of him sideways - from both sides? This is where I started at with my ex-racer. Start with lightest pressure, rhythmical taps and build up til the point the horse responds then reward him with a rub in the area til he's standing still again. Repeat until he 'gets it' and tries sooner with a lighter touch. Its important to always start with light pressure no matter how many times you have to repeat - only then will you get a more responsive neddy. Once this is established you can repeat in the saddle, but with your leg/rein/stick for the pressure cue, do it from a standstill to start with until he's clear what response you are looking for. One thing I found handy when teaching my mare to move of the leg was to make sure she had a 'space' to step into so if I apply my left leg to push her over at a walk or trot, then I place my left rein against her neck to help guide her front end and open up my right rein to give her somewhere to step into, this really helped her to move her shoulders. As your horse increases his understanding you make the aids more subtle - as an old horseman once said to me 'exaggerate to teach, refine as you go along'
 
I imagine if he's fine with your instructor present, & not without its likely to be a rider error. It could be without reminders you are making errors with either position, or the aids themselves. Best bet is for you to get someone to film a lesson, & another of you riding alone, then sit down & compare the differences. Both my daughter & her pony have a habit of getting rather too enthusiastic in canter. Pony goes nicely & daughter is a still, balanced rider. So when left to their own devices its hard to see why working canter often becomes rather fast & unbalanced after the first few movements. The difference is, me shouting half halt, or ride into the corner etc. Without seeing the difference though, you could easily just assume pony was purely at fault. Funnily enough if I put poles or jumps up, daughter remembers to stay in balance herself. My point is very subtle differences can make a huge change to a horses way of going.
 
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